I Am Project - In Training

I am currently in Estes Park, Colorado attending a mindfulness retreat under Thich Nhat Hanh. As with most things in life, nothing has gone as planned.

My first flirtation with disaster was when the airline misplaced my luggage. I didn’t think that was possible when you have a direct flight but it turns out it is. I say misplaced because their computer showed that both me and my luggage got off the same plane but my luggage somehow did not make its way up to the claim carousel. The airline’s lost luggage department could not contact the baggage department because no one was answering their pages or phone calls so I was stuck until an incredibly nice lady went through extraordinary measures to help me out. She said I was making her feel guilty for being so patient and respectful (acts of kindness are really paying off). She took the time to close her desk and make a trip “to the dungeon” as she described it, to look for my luggage. Thanks to a big cat name tag my daughter had put on my suitcase, my luggage was found amongst a conglomeration of other plain black suitcases caught in airport travel limbo.

It has been a lifelong dream of mine to spend at least six months studying Zen full time, but life is such that some things are destined to stay only dreams. The next best thing to studying Zen full time is to have the opportunity to attend an event like this with a Zen Master. I was obviously disappointed to learn upon my arrival that Thich Nhat Hanh had been hospitalized in Massachusetts with a lung infection and would not be able to attend this retreat. Yes I was disappointed yet things, it seems, always work out for me. I realize now that I came here for all the wrong reasons. If Thich Nhat Hanh had not become sick and had attended this event, his presence would have defined the event for me and I would have possibly missed out on one of the most significant opportunities of my life.

Anyone who has not felt the presence of God has not experienced walking meditation in complete silence with one thousand other people. I have never been a social person and crowds make me uncomfortable, yet here I am sharing an intensely personal experience with one thousand complete strangers and not only enjoying it, but relishing it. Alone with my thoughts, and concentrating on staying in the moment, I felt an incredible connection to everyone around me yet the only sound in the mountain air was that of our treading footsteps, the wind rustling through the trees, and the singing birds. Words and conversation would have only ruined the experience. Sometimes the best things in life happen in those moments of noble silence.

This experience has given me great hope for the future of mankind. I think often of how many of our great leaders are coming to the end of their lives and I wonder if there will be anyone ready to take their place when the time comes. Seeing Thich Nhat Hanh’s monastics in action this week, and sharing this whole experience with one thousand other like minded souls, leaves no doubt in my mind that our potential is strong.

“The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply into the present moment and feeling truly alive.” - Thich Nhat Hanh (b. 1926)